After the events in the first volume of this post-apocalyptic boarding school fantasy, Fiora and her Thistle team from the Incorruptibles Academy are continuing to fight against the sorcerers who took over the United States a century ago and now oppress non-sorcerers. New revelations fracture the team, however, and hit close to Fiora. Will the group be able to take on the ever-growing threats even as the flaws in their own side are exposed?
I won’t reveal more of the plot, since some of it spoils things for the first volume. It’s no secret, however, to say that there’s a strong thread of found family and extensive queer inclusion, while author Lauren Magaziner continues the series’ nuanced look at the shades of gray in power, justice, morality, and the ways people handle trauma.
Fiora herself has a same-sex crush; other significant queer characters include a trans woman, a trans boy, and a nonbinary student, plus Fiora’s crush. One character can shift gender identity and presentation at will. Another has two dads. While their queerness isn’t the focus of the story, it comes up when relevant, e.g., when Fiora remembers that she knows about the Incs’ records office because the trans woman had mentioned that the Incs changed her name in their records after she came out and transitioned. Similarly, Fiora’s Jewish heritage and the values stemming from it are incorporated in ways that feel organic.
As I said in my review of the first volume, too, the series clearly takes its inspiration from Harry Potter, but doesn’t simply add a few queer characters to a magical boarding school. Told through the eyes of anti-magical folks engaged in a resistance movement against magical supremacy, it questions the simplistic binary of good versus evil, avoids a “chosen one” trope, and offers readers a more in-depth and multi-faceted look at equity, belonging, and the limits and perils of power, magical or otherwise.
Despite the substantive exploration of these themes, however, the book avoids preachiness. There’s enough excitement, adventure, mystery, magical powers, and technological weapons to make it a rip-roaring action tale as well. Magaziner balances all of the elements to create a highly recommended story that feels satisfying even as it sets things up for a presumed third volume. I can’t wait.
Fiora is White, Jewish, and self-described as “plump.” Other characters reflect a range of racial/ethnic identities. One character has anxiety. Another has a prosthetic leg and one uses hearing aids and sign language; both characters are heavily involved in the action scenes.
